Question for married ladies-things to look out for while planning/???

I am not worried about my day not going well....but If you ladies can give tips about

'This went wrong and I could have avoided it by...'

Or

' I wish I knew _________ before the wedding day'

or

' In hindsight I wish I did_____________'

Any planning incsight, or problems you can help other brides avoid would be a great help!

if one of your vendors tells you a few weeks ahead of time that they are sending an 'assistant' ahead of them to help you with anything you may need, and that vendor doesn't require an assistant to perform their services OR to help you with anything...you should probably give them a hard time about it. this happened to me and it gave me a bad feeling and...sure enough she didn't show up to our wedding and her 'assistant' had to perform her service.

i wish i knew how fast the day the day was really going to go. people can tell you over and over but even hearing that and being prepared for it, the day flew by and i feel like i didn't get to stop and enjoy the moments as much as i wanted to. but that's not something you can help, just remember to stop every once in a while and look into his eyes and be happy in the moments together all day.

in hindsight i wish i had given a must take list to my photographer. or maybe asked for certain things...during cocktail hour i should have gathered ALL of his side of the family for a family pic, and ALL of my family for a family pic. we didn't do that and there are many people who i don't have pictures of that i wish i did. not knocking my photog at all, he was incredible and my pics are amazing, just a few i wish i'd asked for.

oh...and check your make-up half way through the reception. i did my own so maybe you wouldn't have any problem if it's professionally done, but by the end of the night i was sweaty from dancing and most of my make-up had come off and i don't like those pictures too much.

just have FUN...one thing i was so happy we did was see each other before the ceremony to get pictures out of the way so we could enjoy cocktail hour...and also this gave us a chance to greet everyone during cocktail hour so that we didn't have to spend as much time going around to tables and we weren't worried about missing everyone. it let us relax a lot more and we enjoyed our reception so much more.

good luck to you and enjoy your day. and no matter what happens just remember why you're there, because you love each other. as long as you have each other's love and your friends and your family around you to support that, it's going to be a beautiful, amazing day.

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Posted by bigrd37

definitely make a list of photographs you want and give it to your photographer. i made 2 lists, which i forgot that i made 2 separate ones and didn't combine them. i spoke to the photographer the day before and gave him a quick idea of what i wanted and figured he is the professional, he has taken pics before and should know what he is doing. although he took many beautiful pictures there are still a lot of shots i wish he got. so if there is something you want, don't just assume they'll do it, write it down!!

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I second that - I figured that my photographer would know enough to get a shot of me with each of my bridesmaids (I only had 3) and then after it's all over I realize he didn't get a shot of me and my new SISTER-IN-LAW!! How did he miss that one?! I don't think that should be something the bride has to suggest - his assistant got my husband with each of the groomsmen and you know boys are the last ones to ask for stuff like that!!

I never noticed my beverage service was missing a few things, and there were some mix-ups with my menu. I would have put someone in charge of checking everything involved with the catering.

I would def recommend the following:
1. Definitely check through all of your contracts and make sure everything is in writing in fine black ink in terms of dates, pricing, etc. I found out my caterer overcharged us for the liquor and overtime fees (when their waitstaff left earlier than us at the wedding).
2. Get a day of coordinator for your wedding particularly if you have a wedding of 100+ guests. It can get very chaotic to track down all your vendors (particularly if something goes wrong and you have to address it but you're caught in a middle of a formal portrait or you have to tip one of your vendors) On the day of my wedding, everyone passed whatever they were assigned or volunteered to help out with to the next person. As a result, my vendors were not happy. They had to wait until our formal portrait was over to receive their payments/tip from us. We had to track from one person to another to find out who had what.
3. If you're not happy with the service or you find out something is missing, let your wedding planner/coordinator know immediately to correct the issue. After the wedding, you will not get reimbursed or receive any incentive for anything. A majority of the vendors you worked with will tell you, it was not brought up on the day of the wedding.
4. Make sure you have everything ready prior to the day of the wedding. This means wedding programs assembled in the basket, favors, anything that has to be carried to the ceremony/reception- designate someone with a car to transport all of the things you need to the site.
Other than those aforementioned, enjoy your day as it will go by very quickly and most of all have fun and have an amazing time!